Stereoscopic capture and viewing has been commonplace since Charles Wheatstone invented the Stereoscope in 1833 as discussed in On Some Remarkable, and Hitherto Unobserved Phenomena of Binocular Vision (Part the First), Wheatstone, Charles, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. Lon. pp. 371-394 (1838). Similar to the present day ViewMaster®, this Victorian device uses two still camera images which are seen independently by a viewer's eyes. The spatial separation or disparity between similar objects within the images gives the sensation of depth.
Capture of stereoscopic content is achieved with two cameras whose fixed spacing is chosen to match a depth budget associated with a playback display device. This generally results in perceived depth being both compressed and distorted producing ‘cardboard cut-outs’ and flat ‘wall-paper’ backgrounds.